WHEN BIPS AND EMRAAN CAME CALLING!

Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Mahesh Bhatt and team t2 — what happens when the four meet in the t2office? they all have a blast — from kissa kissing ka to the ‘maddest cake ever

Bips, Emraan and Bhattsaab settle into a quick adda with team t2

Harshvardhan Kotia (student, t2 reader and Bips fan): Films, as a profession, is still not encouraged in our society. Did you face opposition when you told your family that you wanted to be an actress?

Bipasha: Yes, a lot of Bengali families do have this mindset. When I got into modelling, my parents just lost the plot! (Laughs) I remember my dad (Hirak Basu) did not speak to me for one whole month! I went to New York and was modelling with the Ford Model agency and when I came back and told them that, ĎNow I think I want to be an actorí, they werenít too happy about it.
I feel that one shouldnít be too worried about this profession because honestly, there is nothing to worry about. Thatís because the people who are now in this business are highly educated and come from the biggest of families. Itís one of the most respectable professions to be a part of. I am a woman and vouch for it that the kind of respect the business gives me is incredible. For a woman thatís all you need.

Shradha Agarwal to Bipasha: You tweeted about this (the Bengali bou) look as your dadís favourite look. You make our pages look pretty all the time. Which is your favourite look, personally?

Bipasha: I am a total girl (in the way I dress) and at times a woman. At times, my look is very sporty. Most of the time, I live in track pants and ganjis. I always generally look for comfort. But then there are occasions when I wear Indian traditional stuff which honestly, I love.

Karo Christine Kumar to Emraan Hashmi: You like being asked questions on kissing?
Bipasha: Yes, he loves it!

Emraan: I try to find a new answer every time. Iíll, Iíll tryÖ. You want to know how many times I have kissed? (Laughs out loud)

Bipasha: Do it Emraan, for Calcutta!
Emraan: You want to know how many with retakes or without retakes?

Priyanka Roy: Without retakes!

Emraan: Okay, out of the 30 films I have done, I have kissed my leading ladies in 27 (laughs). Now I have graduated to kissing two (Bipasha and Esha Gupta in Raaz 3). We are upping the stakes in this one.

Bipasha: This is by far his finest!

Emraan: If you take an average of five in every film, that would be about 150 kisses on screen! With retakes, that number actually goes up. And tell you what, I am being encouraged to actually apply to the Guinness Book of World Records!

Bipasha: If he doesn’t do it, I will apply to Guinness on his behalf! (Laughs) I think it’s quite cool… I don’t think even internationally people have done it…

Emraan: You are number 27!

Bipasha: Oh shut up… the last time he gave me a different number!

Bipasha: I have to say this that I am really petrified about on-screen kissing… I try and get out of it every time. Dum Maaro Dum I was successful, but Bachna Ae Haseeno, I failed…. In Bachna Ae Haseeno, Siddharth Anand (the director) and Adi (Aditya Chopra, the producer) laughed at me because I was so scared of kissing! But when I was told that I have to do Raaz 3 with Emraan Hashmi, I knew I couldn’t wriggle out of a kiss because people would beat the shit out of me! (Laughs). I did not even attempt to tell Bhattsaab that don’t keep a kiss.

Emraan: It’s a curse, yaar! (Laughs sheepishly)

Bipasha: I think this year definitely he is making it to Guinness!

Pratim D. Gupta: Emraan, maximum retakes for a kiss?

Emraan: I think it would have to be Murder where Anurag (Basu, the director) had given me so many kissing scenes with Mallika (Sherawat). That was the film that actually upped Bollywood’s bold quotient. The number of kisses… oh my god!

Priyanka: That had so many!

Emraan: Ya, ya… oh my god! (Laughs). I had completely forgotten…

Mahesh Bhatt: Don’t ask him anything about Murder… he has the tendency to sway whenever someone brings up the topic of Mallika!

Emraan: Yes, she was the first, at least on screen (laughs).

Bipasha: And I am the 27th… I feel so honoured!

Priyanka: Has there been a time when you have put up your hands and said: ‘Oh no, another kiss!’

Emraan: Oh, it happens all the time.

Bipasha: Oh no, I don’t even want to hear the answer.

Emraan: It’s not a problem with people I am comfortable with.

Bipasha: He had a horrible flu the day we had to kiss!

Emraan: I got it from you!

Bipasha: Oh shut up!

Emraan: You had a cough.

Bipasha: You had a cough, you liar! Okay, we were all sick.

Pratim: Who was the better kisser in Raaz 3 — Bipasha or Esha?

Bipasha: Let’s not discuss this.

Emraan: She’s here, so let’s say it’s Bipasha! (Laughs)

Bipasha: Thank you!

Pratim: Bhattsaab, you want to sell Raaz 3 to us?

Mahesh: Fire doesn’t require an agency… it spreads on its own. The word is out… it’s spreading like wildfire.

Pratim: You are considered the great marketing messiah of Bollywood…

Mahesh: Behind the age-old outdated idea of an artiste is the fact that we have always been marketers. The element of marketing is fundamental to everyone. You have to get up and say: ‘Hey guys, I have something to share with you’. Sharing is a process of self-fulfilment. We have always been marketers and the mask came off in the marketplace when we all had to deliver numbers. Whether you like it or not, marketing is the be-all and end-all of our existence, whether we are selling soap or selling salvation. If the prostitute is selling, the holy man is also selling. The only difference is that she is selling something tangible, while he sells empty words.

Pratim: Bipasha, did you have a fight with Bhattsaab for not taking you in Jism 2?

Bipasha: No!

Pratim: But Jism is Bipasha Basu…

Bipasha: I have moved on and picked up films that I liked doing. You have to ask Bhattsaab why he didn’t give me Jism 2…

Enter, The Cake (FROM KOOKIE JAR)!

Bipasha to Emraan: What’s this… you are kissing someone! (Laughs out loud) Bhattsaab you have to see this.

Emraan: Who is this I am kissing?

Shradha: An unidentified woman.

Bipasha: Bhattsaab, see I have dumbbells!

Mahesh Bhatt: You have a very imaginative team at work here.

Bipasha: They are cool, I like them… Bengalis you know!

Emraan: Bhattsaab, you have to put this on Twitter right now!

Bipasha: This is so cute!

Emraan and Bipasha pose with the cake as the t2 cameras and Mahesh Bhatt go click-click

Bipasha: Come Bhattsaab, let’s cut and eat the cake.Mahesh Bhatt: No, no… I don’t want to eat any part of you guys on that cake!

If Bipasha and Emraan came to visit you, what gift would you give them? Tell t2@abp.in